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MEST EIT and Publiseer CEO Chidi Nwaogu Talks Success

Each year, MEST welcomes a new cohort of aspiring entrepreneurs from all over Africa to the Training Program in Accra, Ghana. The 2019 cohort welcomed nearly 60 Entrepreneurs in Training from 12 different countries. One of these talented entrepreneurs is Nigeria’s Chidi Nwaogu, who is also the co-founder and CEO of Publiseer, a startup he founded with his twin brother Chika Nwaogu.

Founded in 2017, Publiseer is one of the largest digital publishers in Africa. Tailored to meet the growing needs of independent African authors and artists, Publiseer is a free, easy to use, digital publishing platform. The startup has been featured by numerous media outlets, including TechMoran and Ventures Africa, and won the Startup World Cup Nigeria regional final this February.

A clearly talented entrepreneur, Chidi is gaining international attention. In 2019 alone, he has received numerous awards. Among these achievements is his selection for the 2019 Westerwelle Young Founders Programme and Yunus&Youth Global Fellowship Program. He has also been selected to pitch at Startup Turkey Top 100 Demo Day and invited to speak at the 2019 Geneva Book Fair by the Swiss Foreign Affairs Ministry in May 2019.

We sat down with Chidi to learn more about how his recent achievements are impacting his life, and how his time in the MEST Training Program is helping him to become an even better entrepreneur.

How has all the success of the past few months impacted you?

The impact has been really huge for me. It has exposed me to a larger audience of the finest entrepreneurs, investors, and decision-makers around the world, in my field and beyond. It has expanded my contacts and brought me before heads of state and presidents. It has served as a confirmation that the work I’m doing is making a positive impact, and being recognized by several organizations has catalyzed my motivation to do even more. Apart from the funds received, and the many amazing places and people I have and will get to visit and meet, my network is exponentially expanding every day in ways I never thought was possible.

How has MEST supported you?

I have never been in a community with so many brilliant, humble and super-friendly people. Everybody here is not your average kind of person. As long as it's MEST, it's not average. Here, you can have hundreds of conversations every day, and every day you will walk away with hundreds of fresh insights about everything.

MEST has taught me how to better tell my story. It is one thing to have a great story, and it’s another thing to be able to tell it effectively. MEST has enabled me to better tell the story of what I’m doing, why I’m doing it, and how I'm doing it, in a way that’s effective and captivating. This has led me to emerge at the top of many competitions and application processes.

I can confidently say within six months, I’ve gotten from MEST what the outside world couldn’t give me in 10 years.

What are your plans for the future?

I plan to leverage my growing network to become a well-established and respected name in the tech ecosystem in Africa and beyond. This has been my primary plan for this year. I plan to take whatever startup I build here at MEST on to global stages. I plan on making an unmatchable impact in Africa through technology, which I hope will lead to several thousands of young and aspiring tech entrepreneurs to apply to join MEST because they want to be like me, or even better.